The present invention relates to a seat belt tongue which has a tongue projection consisting of a tongue plate etc., and more particularly it relates to the tongue having a cover which covers at least a front end of the tongue projection.
A seat belt device is mounted in a vehicle for restraining a vehicle occupant. As shown in FIG. 7, a seat belt has a belt 4 which is withdrawn from a retractor 2, provided in the vehicle. The belt 4 passes through an opening of a tongue 10 which is accepted and secured by a buckle 6. This buckle 6 is disposed on one side of a vehicle seat 8 and fixed to a vehicle's body. The forms of known tongue will be explained referring to FIGS. 5 and 6.
The tongue 10 shown in FIG. 5 has at its rear end a wrap portion 12 having an opening, through which a seat belt is wrapped. The portion 12 is integral with a tongue plate 14 of the tongue 10. In this tongue plate 14 there is provided a latch opening 16 which engages with a latch device of a buckle.
A tongue 18 shown in FIG. 6, has a wrap portion 12 which is integral with a rod-shaped tongue projection 20 provided with a circumferential latch groove 22 at its front portion.
The tongues 10 and 18 are made of metal which is extremely hard. Therefore, the tongue sometimes hits window glass of a vehicle to make a loud noise when the tongue is removed from the buckle and the belt is withdrawn by a retractor.